The Rev. Norman E. Olson, commander of the Northern Michigan Regional
Militia, accused the federal government of "planning and premeditating
the murder of the Freemen in the besieged house near Jordan, Montana."
Olson claims that "an undeclared conspiracy of intent exists between
the media and the federal government and that the federal government
is merely waiting until the level of nationwide consent rises to the
point where the federal forces will be able to act.

"I fear [the Freemen] will never see justice...the media is constantly
declaring them guilty," Olson said. "The FBI will carry out the
execution."

Olson said that he has called for militia members from around the
country "to go to Montana as quickly as possible." He reasons that the
"presence of hundreds of militiamen will raise the ante substantially
to the point where the federal government will decline to engage in a
greater battle."

In an interview with Freedom Writer Magazine, Olson said he and
chaplain Ray Southwell were going to Jordan, Montana on April 15 for
about a week "to do some reconnaissance and hold some press
conferences." He also hoped to meet with the Freemen. Olson said that
although the Freemen are Identity Christians and he is a Baptist
fundamentalist, he thinks he can reason with them.

Rev. Olson is also thinking about starting a national militia in an
effort to get all the militias to work together. He said that since
the FBI is crossing state and county lines, the militias need to do
the same in order to protect each other.

Norman Olson epitomizes the differences of ideology represented within
the hundreds of militias. A fundamentalist Baptist, pastor Olson
rejects the Christian Identity message of many militia members.

Christian Identity adherents share the idea that white Christians are
direct descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel, which they
believe ended up in northern Europe. A theologically similar group
calls itself British Israelites.

The majority of Christian Identity devotees — numbering about 40,000
in the United States — are racist and anti-Jewish. Except for the
"identity" aspect, most Christian Identity believers embrace classic
Christian fundamentalism and a growing number are Pentecostal. The
main difference between fundamentalists and Pentecostals is that
Pentecostals believe in "spiritual gifts," such as speaking in tongues
and faith healing, and fundamentalists do not. (It should be noted,
however, that most Christian fundamentalists and Pentecostals do not
espouse the Identity message.)

Christian Identity proponents also hold to various conspiracy
theories concerning a New World Order in which the United Nations will
take over the world. Behind the scenes, they believe, are certain
European bankers (long recognized as a code referring to Jews) who
hold the purse strings to bring this about.

According to leading experts, there are now as many as 400 various
militia-type groups in the U.S. The vast majority of these are
Christian-based, with those embracing the Identity message in the
forefront.